Manchester United banter 5

27 Oct 2025 15:28:21
A lot more work and tracking back in our last 2 games, even the front players especially Cunha and Mbeumo which is helping to reduce the space in midfield when we don't have the ball. You really need all players working and understanding where to be in and out of possession for RAs system to work.

27 Oct 2025 17:30:03
I think you need all players working and understanding where to be in and out of possession for any system to be successful.
Maybe the players are working harder, more focused, listening, have more intensity, being more aggressive and fighting for positions more because Ratcliffe has given more time to RA?
Lessens the complacency of players just waiting for a manager/ coach change and quietens down the blood thirsty media and pundits.

27 Oct 2025 19:57:27
Spot on supasub. That's exactly what was different this time, no easy way out and the disgruntled players silenced and told perform during the African Nations.

Once again they struggled when handed a chance and nearly blew the game. They either step up or they're done at United but they're exposed as being unable or unwilling to stick to the plan.

28 Oct 2025 11:49:10
Ratcliff backing Ruben so strongly has set a precedent I think we did kinda all laugh and say what was he doing but on reflection it's a positive.
Many players have for united for so long downed tools knowing that the manager will be gone before them not anymore I think rasmus going was a sign too that nobodys safe.

28 Oct 2025 12:35:19
Agreed mate. Perform or be gone and show the right attitude as well. No matter how good you are you're expected to work for the team.

28 Oct 2025 16:43:00
What else was SJR going to say, but more fool you if you think for 1 minute he meant it, if things had not started to turn he would be gone if things take a bad turn for worse again he will be gone, SJR saying that means absolutely nothing, results are what keeps him here. end off hopefully they continue but don’t for 1 minute think SJR was not talking with fork tongue

Mainoo very poor Baleba is also very poor and many on here wanted them as our two midfielders! LOL.

29 Oct 2025 16:52:57
It does mean something ~Maze~ Notimesoon. Too often at this club the players have been given an easy run of it by blaming and changing the manager. However I do think it's less likely in general with this group. Even in bad games I think the character of the players has been good.

We have recruited so well both last summer and this. Not every player will be a hit but profiling well makes such a difference. De Ligt, Mazraoui, Yoro, Cunha, Mbeumo, Lammens, Sesko. We do need a couple more starter level players but the quality and resiliency of those we have is great.

I'll also say that for those that were criticising others that spoke about the underlying metrics being impressive and pleading for patience because those are better predictors of long term results than a handful of results, I do hope this upturn demonstrates the arguments made. We'll probably have a poor run of results again but as long as the general trends are good RA deserves our backing.

30 Oct 2025 07:38:02
Winning against the Brighton’s of this world will define our season, this is where we have struggled.

Forest, Spurs, Everton, Palace, West Ham, Wolves, Bournemouth, Villa, Newcastle and then back to Wolves are our fixtures till Christmas.

Most of these teams have not had great starts and on paper we should beat them, but as someone sensibly said once, football is played on grass not paper, but these are all winnable games.

27 Oct 2025 07:39:03
{Ed's Note - PatrikBurgher has posted a new article entitled, Slot Has Failed Tactically With Liverpool In The Premier League

27 Oct 2025 14:56:13
The loss of Jota has been an emotional drain on the squad. Liverpool have lost both left backs, their first choice goalie, while DVD is clearly not quite the payer he once was, so not only do they have a new front line with a misfiring Salah, but also an un-cohesive defense. for the time being at least. As far as tactics are concerned Slot has admitted they were unprepared for a shift away from playing out of defense towards the long ball, as did United. From our perspective on this page one can only say about time. Watching us get stuck in our own half, losing possession early as teams anticipated our insistence on playing short and boxing us in was a stress inducing nightmare.

The 5-0 start always looked a bit fortunate and perhaps created a false sense of invincibility. Now the facade has cracked and the manager will have to prove his worth. It's too early to say whether the team will recover from what has become a massive rebuild from the squad Slot was fortunate to have inherited from Klopp. On paper Liverpool still has a forward line and midfield to envy. They may well not win the league this time around but they have other 3 competitions - unlike us - where they have a chance to win silverware.

27 Oct 2025 15:05:59
To be fair I think most sides would struggle with Dick Van Dyke in the heart of their defence.

27 Oct 2025 15:19:49
He's only 99 spenno, reckon him and David Attenborough, also 99, could see this season out as a top pairing of centre backs.

27 Oct 2025 19:59:05
And the joint winners of banter of the week go to. ?.

27 Oct 2025 20:44:13
You're welcome.

26 Oct 2025 17:38:10
Over the years, I've been pretty harsh on Casemiro, Maguire and Maguire, even Mount. Have to say, they have all stepped up this year (even slabhead stepped up at times last year) . I still maintain they shouldn't be part of the the future plans, and extensions of contracts would come back to bite us. But whilst they are performing on a regular basis and doing what is necessary each week, I'll get behind them.

This summer will be a very pivotal window for us. Midfield, wingbacks and centre backs all need a lift in quality, either due to impending departures or lack of quality.

26 Oct 2025 17:02:32
Anyone know a source for getting hold of the red white and black Adidas 'heritage' pullover hoodie that Amorim was wearing last season. It seems to be sold out everywhere. Trying to cheer up a friend who is having a bit of a rough time.

Even interested in places that do 'custom recreations' - feel like such a reddit site was mentioned a while ago but can't find the post. Thanks in advance.

26 Oct 2025 18:13:52
By using google to search for exactly what you asked, it threw up lots of results that appear to be in stock from £50 upwards. You will have to do some due diligence on the websites but hope you find what you are looking for from a legitimate source. Good luck ?.

27 Oct 2025 09:15:41
Thanks monkey. My Google searches not showing the exact one I'm looking for but think it did help to use a VPN (I'm in Canada) . Did find one on ebay though. Thanks again.

26 Oct 2025 14:52:48
The much maligned Luke Shaw created two goals yesterday with his midfield challenges. Brighton claimed a foul on the second. Looking at the replay, there was a slight grab but the player undoubtedly dived. Both he and the other "always injured" and much maligned Mason Mount (nice alliteration) have shown what good players they are this year.

For the second week in a row the set up has been well tailored to suit the opposition. Yes, there was that worrying 10 minutes or so when they brought it back to 3-2 but rather than sit back, increasing the risk of conceding a 3rd, we just went out and scored again. like United of old!

Things are clearly beginning to gel. We have players who can not only score goals but can find space and key passes. Proper talented footballers. The departures may be prospering elsewhere but that is of no importance. We needed to sweep away the negativity and it looks like that's been done.

I do wish we could have kept McTominay who is a far better player than Zirkzee. The latter needs to move on and hopefully that will happen this January notwithstanding losing some payers to AFCON. Presumably Dorgu will cover for Amad ( a downgrade), but no one can replace Mbuemo, even if we have Mount to bring in. Unfortunately it's hard to imagine us signing a top defensive midfielder until the summer when I imagine efforts will be made to move Ugarte on.

Our big problem last year was scoring goals. I predicted and am still expecting that we'll score 60+ this year. With the light schedule players should remain energetic and focused. I'm very hopeful for Champions League qualification. The next 6 games, 5 of which are against lower opposition, could be pivotal.

It's been fun watching United again. Long may it last.

27 Oct 2025 14:17:20
Amazing how zirkzee has got worse by not playing. Going out of the league cup this year and not having Europe has severely hampered our fringe players. They get no chance to show what they can do, and cannot maintain match sharpness. We have to have a deep run in the FA cup for this reason, or our squad will get very unhappy very quickly.

28 Oct 2025 05:14:06
All players get worse by not playing. They’re not match fit, and not acclimatised to the pace of the game and lose their touch.

28 Oct 2025 12:37:18
I have respectfully disagree DB. They've made chances and they didn't take them. Hence they're not on the starting teamsheet.

26 Oct 2025 13:20:50
Well what a strange few weeks. A real upturn in our performances alongside the Scousers losing 4 league games in a row. If you get bored on our page, head over to the Liverpool page for gnashing of teeth.

Mbuemo and Cunha look naturals and Lammens has made a big difference already, for once our signings seem to be improving us. We swapped out Antony, Garnacho, Sancho, and Rashford for Cunha and Mbuemo, no brainer.

However, a big thing for me is character. We conceded an equaliser last week but then went and scored a winner. Yesterday, we lost 2 goals but again, went down the other end and put the game to bed, last season I doubt we would have won either of those games.

I suspect we will still be 5th after today's games which is a major improvement, 2 interesting away games coming up too to gauge progress.

Hats off to RA. Sunderland are flying but we dealt with them, Anfield is never an easy place to go, and Brighton have been a bogey team for a few years.

As for all the 'I told you so people', fair play to the Manager who has got the team playing, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. We sit in a great position, and if we qualify for the ECL I will be the first to applaud and admit I was wrong, but we have had false dawns before, let's hope this time we've finally turned the corner.

27 Oct 2025 14:23:36
Epl is very competitive this year. Arsenal look like a super team, if they had a top performing striker they would be complete. Everyone else is capable of beating everyone else on any given match day. Very little difference between bottom half and top 4. This is good if you are winning, and not so much if you lose 2 on the bounce. Come Christmas we will have a better idea of the teams that will be in the european spots.

We have seen teams start fast like Sunderland and then fade away as the season progresses.

I just like Anotims messaging after wins. Level headed. More work to do. Next game is all that matters. Hopefully we benefit from 1 game a week for the players in the first team, fewer injuries, better tactical planning for each game etc etc.

28 Oct 2025 05:16:14
I was one who said Amorim had no chance. I just couldn’t aee a way back from him, even if I really like him and wanted him to succeed.

He’s shown tremendous belief and strength of character way beyond many of us to dig in and start making things work.

I’m delighted to be proven wrong. And here’s to him and the tea continuing to do so.

28 Oct 2025 08:01:32
I was wrong too and think the gaffer needs time and a few more players. I think he is a keeper. Needs to do better with his substitutions and managing things late in the game.

26 Oct 2025 12:59:38
And to top off the weekend it would be nice for Arsenal or City (or both) to drop points.
Our positive momentum and swapping positions with Liverpool.
The wheels look to be coming off at Liverpool after the best part of half a billion spent and Slot telling everyone how to play against them over the past week.

26 Oct 2025 13:18:41
It's good timing to be playing forest next as well and thwn a rough test at Tottenham, Dyche will be owed one in the eye by Amorim after his arrogance saying we should hire him before the Sunderland match. Strange how also Sunderland are second but we got zero credit for beating tnem.

26 Oct 2025 16:27:53
City ?.

26 Oct 2025 12:31:18
We all come on here and offer ideas, views, opinions but I don’t think anyone said we should have been keeping Casemiro in the summer but fair play to him, he seems to be managing his game and is really important for us in there at the moment.

No Europe is probably helping with less games and travelling but all goes well, we’ll have this next season so he probably does need replacing. However, I am leaning towards keeping him for another season for his presence and what others can learn from him if we can get some younger legs in CM to allow Casemiro’s game time to be managed.

I have to say I had no idea of Baleba before we were linked with him but he was clearly rated so I’ve tried to follow him this season and it seems he’s not quite hitting the heights, I wasn’t impressed with him yesterday and I read his performances this season could be down to the failed transfer to us that he wanted.

My issue with this is that I would rather avoid someone who can be easily distracted and affected by something like this if this is the case. We need strong characters at United which we are starting to get back. He certainly has a lot of energy which is good and I’m sure he is being monitored closely by United but a player I do like is Elliott Anderson at Forest. I would like United to push for him, think he’s a cracking player. I also like Alex Scott from Bournemouth. Then obviously there is Wharton.

I think Ugarte does ok when he comes on but he doesn’t seem to cover as much ground as others Be interesting to see who United pursue in the summer. Who would others be looking at?

26 Oct 2025 13:04:52
I think the two English chaps, Anderson and Wharton, should be near the top of the list. Anderson in particular seems to be playing well atm. Baleba as you say not quite matching his previous levels currently but is clearly a very good player.

I dunno, I just remember the old Uniteds having a great British heart to them and I'd love to see that again some day.

26 Oct 2025 13:20:33
Great post Ports and I agree. Baleba was great for a season, and Wvan Ferguson is another than Brighton had down for massive sales amd has just fallen off a cliff.

27 Oct 2025 06:04:39
just buy good/ great pl players and don't complicate things. the two lads upfront prove that.

26 Oct 2025 12:05:24
That dummy from Bruno, though ?.

26 Oct 2025 13:40:35
Bruno spat his dummy? Again? ?.

26 Oct 2025 07:38:31
A great win yesterday, and true to my word, I’ll admit I’m eating humble pie after being so vocal against RA.

That said, the biggest improvement isn’t the system itself but the chemistry and fight among the players. They’re starting to gel and anticipate each other’s movements. One thing that really stood out was a subtle tactical tweak — Luke Shaw stepping into midfield out of possession. It stopped us from being overloaded there and made us much harder to play through, something that’s hurt us earlier in the season. It also gave Bruno and Casemiro more control in the middle. You could really see the drop-off once Casemiro went off, which just underlines how important he is to the balance of the side.

And the crowd reaction when Lammens claimed that corner — almost as loud as a goal

Maybe this system can work long term if RA keeps fine-tuning and ironing out the weak spots. Time will tell, but hopefully this is the start of a solid run.

Also, side note — McTominay’s goal was something else. He’s turning into a top player. I genuinely wish we’d kept him; he’d slot perfectly into that midfield two.

26 Oct 2025 08:56:07
The turning point so far imo has been nothing on the pitch although the mood is more upbeat now.

As soon as Ratcliffe came out and mentioned RA needing three years the blood thirsty media and pundits couldn't really say alot. Pressure remains but a lot less intense for RA now compared to previous managers/ coaches.

26 Oct 2025 09:41:13
Kurtis, this is a whole squad rebuild, we moved out 9 players this summer (Garnacho, Sancho, Rashford, Antony, Højlund, Onana, Lindelof, Evans, and Eriksen) . Along with Collyer and.

26 Oct 2025 09:59:00
Hit send to early?‍♂️

Amass on loan. That's a lot of first team players moved on in one summer.

We've also brought in a new keeper, and three new forwards. Along with some shuffling of the existing players, Bruno deeper into midfield, Shaw into CB, Amad into wingback and bringing Mount back into the team on a regular basis.

It was always going to take time for them to get to grips in what is essentially an entire new first 11 in terms of relationships and working together as a team in their new roles.

This is also only phase one of the rebuild, kicking out the biggest problem players, and bringing in key additions to solve the biggest issue from last season (a lack of goals) .

Phase two is likely to be to rebuild the midfield and add more quality in depth at CB and wingback, while also phasing out some of the older/ fringe players and introducing more youth to fill out the squad. I would expect to see another 5-6 first team players leave, maybe more. That'll be next summer, although if anything can be done in January I'm sure the club will consider it.

After phase two we should have a more consistent team able to play as the manager wants. There will still be a few areas of weakness (not every signing will work out) and depending on how some of the younger players are developing we might have new areas to improve or add to.

Phase three should be the cherry on top signings along with some high potential youth players to slowly start to bed in and develop (either from the academy or signed) . This should happen in the summer of 2027 if all things go to plan. Meaning the 2027/ 28 season we should have a fully new squad from what we started last season with. One that has grown and developed together and are ready to seriously challenge for the title.

It was always going to take 3 years to ship out the 15+ players we needed to move on, and replace them. For that entirely new team to bed in and develop together. Depending on how the signings do and how the youth develop it might even take longer. It's rare that every signing works out, or for every talented youth player to realise that potential. So it's likely that we will have to replace one or two of the signings we make, or the youth players we hope will make it. That could mean it takes 4 years rather than 3.

We need to temper our expectations this season, we are learning walk right now, we cannot expect us to be winning the race yet. let's master walking, then learn how to run, only then will we be ready to enter the race.

26 Oct 2025 11:47:38
Are we improving?
This time last year eth was sacked.
Wec we're in negative goal difference -4
We have won 46% more points than this time last season.
We have scored more goals and created more chances.
We have conceded less goals and have a positive goal difference for 1st time since God knows when.
We sit 4th not 14th where eth left us.
We are 3 maybe 6 pints of top spot not 14 pints off top spot.
We are in top 4 not 10 points off top 4.
The team are working harder covering more distance per game.
The team look united.
We are a long way short of the finished team but are making good strides.
Pity we have less posters on after a win.
I know lots of posters who want RA out out east stand nick fall guy angelred ajh Danny to name a few. Do you still think RA is a fraud nick and angel or do you think he deserves the time to continue to improve us?
Ajh didn't know 1 manchester united supporter that doesn't want RA sacked? i'd suggest a change of friend groups all this sounds a bit silly.
Thank God we have educated people in charge, subject matter experts who understand the game and leadership. And the loons were not allowed to take over the asylum.
Long ways to go but the progress we all wanted is being made.
If we can get through the next 2 away games with at least 1 win and no defeats I think we go into the intl break with about 30% of season gone in top 6 and within a couple of points of the cl spots. Ahead of most expectations.
Let's hope we keep it up.

It will take some time but we have the right man imo and he is doing a good job and imo is a little ahead of schedule and doing better than most expected at this point.

26 Oct 2025 12:38:53
When we were losing he even said it's not the system it's the players fighting for it. Maybe the professional coach knows more than fans ?.

26 Oct 2025 12:47:35
Let’s see where we are at the international break and then after Christmas.

Amorim has done well over the last few weeks, credit where it’s due.

26 Oct 2025 13:42:41
Good post Ken. ?.

26 Oct 2025 13:58:46
United should call me up then, Ken. In just one single evening I could easily make 14 pints disappear let alone a meagre 6! ??.

26 Oct 2025 14:08:50
The point about Shaw stepping up is a good tactical spot. All the more rrason why Amorim wants Martinez back as he can do that naturally and is a better passer of the ball too.

26 Oct 2025 14:41:24
Mb you can't have enough pints?.

26 Oct 2025 17:08:12
Well people know my position and continued support for Amorim. Some really good tactical tweaks in the last few games and you could see the confidence starting to flow through the team yesterday, very pleased to see it. There will be tough challenges ahead and we need to see reaction to adverse situations but there is something definitely building.

We really need that Centre Midfield player, plus Dorgu and Dalot have been poor, Dorgu terrible yesterday, so work to be done.

I think the SJR statement on Amorim having two years was helpful.

It was interesting to watch our pressing yesterday, it looks like the extra time Amorim has to coach them in the week is improving them.

Lastly don’t miss what Amorim is doing with young players, Kid Messi, JJ Gabriel called up to train with the first team. If you get a chance watch the videos of his training with a tennis ball.

26 Oct 2025 17:31:12
Kurtis, well done mate for holding your hands up. I owe you that after our little spat during those darks days ?.

27 Oct 2025 11:12:44
Looks like Ed 002 was right after all!